Mark Rogers to leave Birmingham

Birmingham City Council chief executive Mark Rogers has announced he will be leaving the local authority.

He was appointed as chief executive of the UK’s largest local authority by then leader Sir Albert Bore (Lab) in 2013 and previously held the top post at Solihull MBC. He has also served as president of the Society of Local Authority Chief Executive & Senior Mangers.

Mr Rogers said: “Birmingham City Council has been on a challenging journey of improvement and reform over the past three years and I am hugely proud of the team I have worked with to deliver much needed changes in culture, practice and performance.

“I leave the council in a much stronger position than when I joined it and, with the proposed budget and transformation plans set out for the next two years, now is a good time to pass on the baton. I look forward to my colleagues future successes as I know that they can build on firm foundations and continue the modernisation journey we have started together.”

Leader John Clancy (Lab) said: “I’d like to thank Mark for his hard work and commitment over the past three years during what has been the most difficult and challenging of times for Birmingham City Council. I wish Mark all the very best for the future.”

Opposition leader Robert Alden (Con) said Mr Rogers’ departure was “hardly a surprise given the amount of time he appeared to spend externally trying to build a national profile, compared to being in the city trying to fix our many problems”. He added: “After years of improvement notices something at Birmingham City Council had to change.”

Cllr Alden said that once Mr Rogers had gone the Labour administration would have “nowhere left to hide from the mismanagement of the council, whether it is £67m overspends in directorates, failing children services or failed partnerships” such as those with the sustainability and transformation plans and NHS.

A handful of county councils are considering whether to end their membership of the Local Government Association as they believe their funding concerns are not being adequately represented by the organisation, LGC understands.

Birmingham City Council’s corporate managerial leadership team did not “fully grip and co-ordinate” vital work on transformation and financial sustainability, the city’s independent improvement panel has said.

In Politics

An LGC subscription...

...gives you access to LGCplus.com, containing an unparalleled database of tens of thousands of articles offering the news, data, guidance and case studies that councils need to withstand cuts and improve services